NGD Edwards NT7

[inok]

Hello everyone!
I’m new to the forum so don’t bully my if I do something wrong. Nevertheless, back to the guitar)
I have imported this beauty from Japan, BigBoss Hiroshima store. They don’t ship worldwide, so I had to use Blackship as my proxy. Paid 21% VAT and here it is! The full spec list is added in pics.
Frankly, I have never played a guitar that felt as good as this one. I prefer shorter scales so it is 25,5 and the body shape is offset (+1000 points), Duncans, Tone Pros bridge and Gotoh locking tuners from the factory. Higher fret access is amazing, thanks to the ergo heel and cutouts. The neck feels like a dream. Feels much much better then my Slim taper modern C’s I have on my other guitars. Required almost zero adjustments after shipping. However there is one thing left for me to figure out: string gauges for drop g#…..

 

[Nightside]

Edwards is pretty good. It's like an Esp standard series for the Japanese market. Every Edwards I've played has been really good.

 

[Moongrum]

Sweet, it's cool seeing 7s with a tune-o-matic bridge.
also, 21% vat sounds brutal

 

[Nightside]

Are you in Europe? How was the proxy and VAT process?

 

[Surveyor 777]

Great looking guitar. HNGD!

 

[Chri]

Sick!

I love that they've been using the cockstock on a few of the 7s recently.

 

[inok]

Y

Are you in Europe? How was the proxy and VAT process?

Thanks for the interest. I am indeed. To be precise, in the Netherlands. Since this guitar is used, I only had to pay 21% of the purchase+shipping price. If this guitar was new, I would have paid import duties as well. Customs clearance was done in 4 days, after which I got the bill, paid it and got the guitar 2 days later. I do recommend using EMS when shipping from Japan, because they are sometimes lucky to omit import duties.

 

[inok]

it is a 2017 model, so not very recent)))

Sick!

I love that they've been using the cockstock on a few of the 7s recently.

 

[inok]

Oh, forgot to mention, I got this guitar from digimart and it was a pain in the ass. Nor digimart nor hiroshima guitar store worked in English so there was quite a bit of work for google translate lol. Also all the websites and forms were in Japanese as well. Moreover, paying with my credits was not possible so I had to make the proxy service pay cash on delivery. Quite a headache, isn’t it?))
But in the end all the efforts paid off imo

 

[Nightside]

Y

Thanks for the interest. I am indeed. To be precise, in the Netherlands. Since this guitar is used, I only had to pay 21% of the purchase+shipping price. If this guitar was new, I would have paid import duties as well. Customs clearance was done in 4 days, after which I got the bill, paid it and got the guitar 2 days later. I do recommend using EMS when shipping from Japan, because they are sometimes lucky to omit import duties.

Thanks for the info. So if it is used, you don't have to pay extra import duties on top of the 21% of price+shipping for vat? I am looking at a few guitars in Japan also but I'm kind of worried about trying it again. I've bought an Esp from ishibashi to the US without paying an extra penny. After moving to Poland I bought an old Greco FV600 off ebay for half the price of the Esp. However, when it got here I had to pay basically double the price because of vat and import fees.

 

[Chri]

it is a 2017 model, so not very recent)))

Ahh, well, I've seen it on some of the new ones too

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

Edwards is pretty good. It's like an Esp standard series for the Japanese market. Every Edwards I've played has been really good.

More like LTD 1000 series.

 

[Nightside]

More like LTD 1000 series.

Nah. Edwards are made in Japan. Ltd 1000s are made in Indonesia and Korea.

 

[Moongrum]

More like LTD 1000 series.

Nah. Edwards are made in Japan. Ltd 1000s are made in Indonesia and Korea.

 

[Dumple Stilzkin]

Nah. Edwards are made in Japan. Ltd 1000s are made in Indonesia and Korea.

That’s not how it works. ESP is not going to put a product out that’s the same quality as the standard series (EII) and charge significantly less. They have done things to differentiate the brand and tiers of guitars.

 

[Nightside]

That’s not how it works. ESP is not going to put a product out that’s the same quality as the standard series (EII) and charge significantly less. They have done things to differentiate the brand and tiers of guitars.

Don't ask me why they do it. Probably has something to do with why they're only sold new in the Japanese market and not in the EU or US. I've had more than a few Esps different tiers and Edwards are the same as a standard series.

 

[Shawn]

Very nice. I love that body shape. Congrats!

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Nah. Edwards are made in Japan. Ltd 1000s are made in Indonesia and Korea.

Edwards are made, cut, and painted in China, and then assembled in Japan.

Don't ask me why they do it. Probably has something to do with why they're only sold new in the Japanese market and not in the EU or US. I've had more than a few Esps different tiers and Edwards are the same as a standard series.

They do it because manufacturing in China cuts production time and costs significantly. Also, there is really no distribution markup on Edwards stuff since it is just assembled in Japan and then sent to stores/dealers within Japan. ESP as a company handles everything themselves, which knocks out the need for third-party distributors who jack up prices substantially. Thus, ESP can ask a lower selling price for Edwards stuff and still have a fair profit margin as a company.

If you think Edwards are the same tier as an ESP Standard series, then you need to spend quite a few more years actually playing to gain experience and learn how to assess the quality of instruments.

The reason why Edwards are not sold brand new in the USA or EU is because Edwards is a brand developed by ESP exclusively for the Japanese domestic market, while overseas markets get stuck with the LTD import line. (And sticking foreign markets with LTDs really lines ESP’s pockets nicely because the profit margins on LTDs are much, much larger compared to the profit margins on Edwards instruments.)

There are many, many Japanese guitar brands/companies that operate in this manner where their sole target demographic is their native Japanese domestic market with zero intent to sell/export outside of it. It has to do with Japan’s socio-economic business ethos, but also Japan is one of few countries in the world where guitar manufacturing is actually a profitable business venture, even for smaller shops/brands.

Edwards by ESP is just one example of a brand solely meant for the Japanese domestic market, but there have been multiple threads in the past here on this forum where we have discussed numerous other brands that stay solely within the confines of Japan.

 

[7deadlysins666]

Congrats! The H3 shape really looks the best with that headstock.

 

[Nightside]

Edwards are made, cut, and painted in China, and then assembled in Japan.


They do it because manufacturing in China cuts production time and costs significantly. Also, there is really no distribution markup on Edwards stuff since it is just assembled in Japan and then sent to stores/dealers within Japan. ESP as a company handles everything themselves, which knocks out the need for third-party distributors who jack up prices substantially. Thus, ESP can ask a lower selling price for Edwards stuff and still have a fair profit margin as a company.

If you think Edwards are the same tier as an ESP Standard series, then you need to spend quite a few more years actually playing to gain experience and learn how to assess the quality of instruments.

The reason why Edwards are not sold brand new in the USA or EU is because Edwards is a brand developed by ESP exclusively for the Japanese domestic market, while overseas markets get stuck with the LTD import line. (And sticking foreign markets with LTDs really lines ESP’s pockets nicely because the profit margins on LTDs are much, much larger compared to the profit margins on Edwards instruments.)

There are many, many Japanese guitar brands/companies that operate in this manner where their sole target demographic is their native Japanese domestic market with zero intent to sell/export outside of it. It has to do with Japan’s socio-economic business ethos, but also Japan is one of few countries in the world where guitar manufacturing is actually a profitable business venture, even for smaller shops/brands.

Edwards by ESP is just one example of a brand solely meant for the Japanese domestic market, but there have been multiple threads in the past here on this forum where we have discussed numerous other brands that stay solely within the confines of Japan.

Nah. I've been playing since 1998. I've been buying and selling Esps since 1999. Edwards is definitely on par with standard series.